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HYMNS 



TO 



The holy spirit. 



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HYMNS 



TO 



The Holy Spirit, 



JOSEPH B. STRATTON, D. D., 

Natchez, Miss. 



'JUL 26 1894 



2(.-^3-^ 



RICHMOND, VA. : 

Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 
T893. 




Copyright 

BY 

JAMES K. HAZEN, Secretary of Publication. 

1893- 



Printed by 

Whittet & Shepperson, 

Richmond, Va. 



NOTE. 



'T^HESE unpretending devotional effusions, which were 
published originally in the Southwestern Presbyte- 
rian^ of New Orleans, are now, at the request of numer- 
ous friends, presented in the form of this little volume, 
in the hope that the reading of them may convey to some 
soul the spiritual benefit which the Author has found in 
the composing of them. 



CONTENTS, 



Page. 

Note, 5 

Invocation, 9 

The Offices of the Hoi-y Spirit: 

The Life-Giver, 13 

The Enlightener, 15 

The Intercessor, 17 

The Comforter, 19 

The Witness, 22 

The Earnest, 25 

The Revealer, 27 

The Sword, 29 

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 

Love, 35 

Joy, 37 

Peace, 40 

Long Suffering, 42 

Gentleness, 44 



viii CONTENTS. 






Page. 


Goodness, 


. 46 


Faith, 


. . 48 


Meekness, 


• 51 


Temperance, 


• 53 


Works of the Holy Spirit: 




Pentecost, . . . ; . 


• 57 


Regeneration, .... 


. 61 


Sanctification, .... 


. 64 


Adoption, . . . . . , 


. 67 


Communion, 


• 70 


Unity 


. 73 


Liberty 


. 76 


The Invitation, .... 


. 79 


The Spirit Resisted, . 


. 82 


Praying in the Holy Ghost, 


. 85 


Walking in the Spirit, 


. 88 


**Laus Spiritu Sancto," 


• 91 



INVOCATION. 



nPIRlT OF TRUTH, within whose mystic cell 
Are gathered all things pure, and good, and fair, 

Who dost to mortals these thy jewels bear. 
As ocean-caves yield pearls from cloistered shell ; 
All that man needs to know 'tis thine to tell ! 

Thy gifts with lowly suitors thou dost share, 

As the soft whisper of the intoning air 
To voiceless wave gives chime of silver-bell. 
Blind are our eyes till thou dost give them sight ! 

Mute are our tongues till thou dost lend them speech ! 
Oh ! let thy quickening touch our souls, — incite 

To learn of thee, — and strive, with nobler reach 
Of love and quest, to climb the sun-lit height 

Of the pure knowledge, thou dost deign to teach ! 



OFFICES 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



HYMNS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



I. 

THE LIFE-GIVER. 

(Rom. viii. ii.) 



A LL worlds, all beings, O thou Breath of God, 

Live through thine inspiration ! 
The stars of heaven, the sea, the flower-gemmed 
sod. 
Throb with thy vast pulsation ! 

Where thou art not — 'tis death, — 'tis nothingness ! 

From thee come voice and motion; 
As choral music, at the wind's caress, 

Springs from the depths of ocean. 

Dead souls, that lie in palsied impotence, 

Revive at thy vocation ! 
They burst the tomb — they change their cere- 
ments 
To garments of salvation. 
13 



14 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



The sensual film drops from their blinded view; 

Life thrills with strange elation ; 
Old things are passed away — lo ! all is new, 

As in a new creation ! 

Like wingdd forms, from the dark chrysalis 

To sunny realms translated, 
O'er fields of Faith and springs of Heavenly bliss 

They range with zeal unsated ! 

O mighty Quickener, on me bestow 

This blessed resurrection ! 
And help me, by thy grace, to grow 

To Christ's complete perfection ! 

Oh ! come, as morning air, o'er hill and plain, 

Comes to the earth's appealing ! 
Oh ! come, till man's lost race shall live again, 

New-born, through thy blest healing ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit i^ 



II. 
THE ENLIGHTENER. 

(Eph. i. 8.) 

COR thee I long, O Fount of Light, 
As one begirt with Arctic night 

Longs for the sun again ; 
To thee I lift my empty cup, 
As thirsty plants to clouds look up, 

Crying for heaven's sweet rain ! 

Thy Word, I know, like starry skies, 
Shines o'er me ; but to my dim eyes 

There comes no cheering ray ; 
God's glory, e'en in Jesus' face, 
My blinded orbs refuse to trace ; 

My darkness knows no day ! 

Oh ! purge my sight, that heavenly things. 
Now veiled by earthly shadowings. 
May fill my clouded sphere ! 



i6 Hymns to the Holy Spirit, 



And words of Christ, which now I note 
With vacant mind, as barren rote, 
" Spirit and Life " appear ! 

Oh ! spread thy brooding wing above 
This inward void, as thou didst move 

Creation into birth ! 
Say to my soul, " Let there be Hght !" 
Bid interposing clouds take flight, 

And heaven relumine earth ! 

Thine is the fulness, — mine the need I 
In all the realms of life I read 

'J'hy boundless plenitude ; 
Renew, inspire, transform my heart, 
Till, cleansed by thee in every part, 

God shall pronounce it " Good !" 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. ly 



O 



III. 
THE INTERCESSOR. 

(Rom. viii. 26.) 

H ! miracle of miracles ! 

The Eternal Spirit stoops to share 



My lowly wants, and gently tells 

My soul the thoughts it needs in prayer ! 

How like that sweet maternal art, 
Which in the callow bird excites 

New force of limb — new strength of heart, 
To train it for its future flights ! 

How oft, dear Lord, when at thy gate 
I kneel, athirst to breathe my suit. 

My faltering accents hesitate ; 

My spirit sinks — my tongue grows mute ! 

The holiness which girds the throne 
At which I bow, my soul subdues 



i8 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



To awe-struck silence; and a groan 
Is all the speech I dare to use. 

And must I then, as one debarred 
From mercy's door, turn sad away? 

Wilt thou, O Father, thus discard 

The prayer I would, but cannot, say ? 

Oh ! sweet response ! An unseen hand 
Lifts from my heart its stifling weight I 

A voice, than angel's note more bland. 
Cries, " See in me thine Advocate ! " 

" Speak out, poor child, thy timid tones 
I turn to language loud and clear ! 

I tune thy weak, discordant groans 
To music, God delights to hear ! " 

O Holy Ghost, thus, day by day. 
Enfold me with thy sponsor-grace ; 

That ever, where I kneel to pray, 

My soul may find God's dwelling-place I 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. ig 



IV. 

THE COMFORTER. 

(John xiv. i6.) 

r\ H ! glorious Trinity, 
A threefold life in thee 
In oneness lies. 

As clouds in wreaths of gold 

Within themselves are rolled, 

Thy glory manifold 

Comes to our eyes. 

The Father and the Son 
And Spirit join in one, 

To save lost man ! 
In triple streams of love, 
From the one Fount above, 
Their blended currents move 

In God's great plan ! 



20 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Not always o'er his sheep, 
Doth Christ his wardship keep, 

At earthly post ; 
But e'er for their defense, 
In loving recompense, 
Sends to their orphan'd sense 

The Holy Ghost. 

The promise infinite, 
In scroll eternal writ, 

He so fulfilled ! 
Lo ! from the upper spheres. 
The Comforter appears. 
Out of men's griefs and fears 

New hopes to build ! 

Thy voice I may not hear. 
But thy co-equal Peer 

Speaks to me, Lord ! 
He doth my sight refine. 
And make the things of thine 
With light celestial shine, 

A living Word ! 



HyjHJis to the Holy Spirit. 21 



Thy presence, heavenly Guest, 
Subdues my soul to rest, 

With memories sweet, 
Of Jesus, and his grace ! 
Thy smiles reveal his face, — 
Thy touch is his embrace, — 

Dear Paraclete ! 



22 Hymns to the Holy Sph'it. 



V. 
THE WITNESS. 

(Rom. viii. i6.) 



/^ GOD the Spirit, can it be, 

That converse thou dost hold with me ? 
And bear'st in tones, by sense unheard, 
But clearer far than spoken word, 
The gracious message, "Thou art mine, 
My child — my heir — by birth divine"? 

Oh ! keep that voice forever near, 
To bless me with its notes of cheer ! 
For ofttimes doubts around me throng 
In mocking troops, and turn my song 
To choking sigh and anxious groan, 
Lest thou my kinship should'st disown. 

Or, the soul's torpor gives no sign 
Of living light within its shrine ; 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 2j 



Faith's quick'ning pulse is quenched in death ; 
From stifling airs I draw my breath; 
My palsied tongue in prayer grows mute, 
Like tuneless chord of unstrung lute. 

Or if, in thought, I make review 
Of work for God, so scant and few 
My labors seem, that fear creeps in, 
And clothes all life with taint of sin ; 
And conscience cries, in tone severe, 
" There are no marks of sonship here." 

Oh ! softly, then, to my despair, 

As waft of dove's wing through the air, 

Is borne an answer on the breeze, 

Joyous as angels' symphonies. 

And soothing as Siloah's tide, 

" Thou liv'st, poor soul, for Christ has died ! " 

*' These sighs, these groans, this fierce unrestj. 
Are vital throbbings in thy breast ! 
This homesick eye, that skyward looks, 
This thirst for heavenly water-brooks, 



24 Hym?is to the Holy Spirit. 



Do not these filial yearnings prove 
The drawings of the Father's love ? 

" The need that seeks, like wearied bird, 

An altar-nest in Jesus' word ; 

The prayer that says, with fire aglow, 

' Dear Lord, I cannor let thee go ' ; 

Do these not show the mystery 

Of wedded life 'twixt Christ and thee ? 

" Oh ! weak disciple, burdened o'er 

With conscious wound and bruise and sore, 

Look up ! thy Master and thy Friend, 

His pitying glance doth o'er thee bend, 

And woos thee to his arms to flee, 

With the sweet question, ' Lov'st thou Me?'" 

Oh ! heavenly Witness, let my ear, 
By thee attuned, be quick to hear 
Thy blest monition's cheering strain 
Sweetening earth's dirge with its refrain, 
Till safe with Christ — my doubtings o'er, 
I need thy solace — nevermore ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 2^ 



VI. 
THE EARNEST. 

(2 Cor. i. 22.) 

T WALK the earth, an heir 

Of a realm beyond the sky, 
Though now, I know not where, 

Its imperial regions lie ; 
But sure I am, the day will come 
When its bright halls shall be my home. 

I know in heaven my name 

With the royal seed is writ, 
And Christ will own my claim 

With the princely throng to sit; 
Who, faithful here the Cross to bear, 
With him enthroned, the Crown shall wear. 

It is but scanty fare, 

And the pilgrim's toil I meet, 
In this hard world of care, 

Where I draw my weary feet ; 
4 



26 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



But ever, as I march along, 
I catch the coronation song. 

Within my spirit's shrine, 
As an earnest of its bliss, 

I feel the pulse divine 

Of a nobler life than this : 

As eaglet in its eyrie pent 

Forecasts its sunny element. 

For thou, dear Lord, the seal 
Which my lineage doth attest, 

Dost often to my sense reveal, 
In these yearnings in my breast, 

Which tell that I, a child of sin, 

Am now, new-born, to God akin. 

Since thou hast deigned to be 
Of my lowly soul the guest, 

In this blest unity, 

I can fold my heart to rest. 

O Holy Ghost, thou pledgest me 

That I shall share Christ's Royalty ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 27 



VII. 
THE REVEALER. 

(i Cor. ii. 10.) 

T CLIMB the mountain's height, 
I soar on wings of light, 
In quest of thee, my God ! 
I search creation's maze, 
Seeking, with tireless gaze, 
The way thy steps have trod ! 



But cold as shining star 
In the dim depths afar, 

Nature thy form reveals ; 
No warmth the vision brings ; 
No loving answerings 

Respond to my appeals. 

Not here — not here, my soul 
Finds the supernal goal 
Its eager hopes pursue ; 



28 Hym?is to the Holy Spirit. 



A God my spirit craves, 
Who pities, loves, and saves. 
Holy, and just and true ; 

A Father, whose soft touch . 
Gives strength to weakness, such 

As clasps the child about ; 
A Friend, whose patient care 
Can all my burdens bear. 

And e'en my sins blot out. 

To thee, O Holy Ghost, 
Blest Comforter, who dost 

God's secret things survey, 
To thee I Hft my plea ; 
Do thou the mystery 

To my blind eye display ! 

Let Christ's dear image be 
The link 'twixt God and me, 

Bringing the distant nigh ! 
Till in his sweet embrace, 
I see him face to face, 

And " Abba, Father," cry. 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 2g 



O 



VIII. 
THE SWORD. 

(Eph. vi. 17.) 

THOU who bear'st the oUve branch, 
Who lay'st thy gentle interdict 



On human strife, and lov'st to stanch 

The wounds which Wrong and Hate inflict! 

Spirit of Grace ! no murderous steel, 
Instinct with tiger's thirst for blood, 

Gleams in thy hand ! — For man's true weal, 
Thou wield'st thy sword — the W^ord of God 

Oh ! blessed Sword, by Love en wreathed, 

By Truth with edge and point endued. 
Ever in Mercy's cause unsheathed, 

Thou warrest for the sake of good ! 
Sin's bold entrenchments thou dost storm ; 

Its fair devices thou dost pierce ; 
Where Satan walks in angel's form 

Thou stand'st, a foeman, strong and fierce. 



JO Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



As day-beam o'er the primal night, 

With flashing Hght and beauty broke, 
Thou dost the realms of falsehood smite, 

And error dies beneath thy stroke. 
The slumbering conscience feels thy thrust ; 

Self-righteous pride falls at thy blow ; 
Nature's conceits thou turn'st to dust. 

As in the sun's shafts melts the snow. 

Not Death's red spoil, O Holy Ghost, 

Thy kindly strategy would win ; 
Thou savest to the uttermost 

Those whom thy slay'st — by slaying sin. 
'Tis when thy sword from reason's eye 

Cuts loose the films which mar its ken, 
That souls, set free from sorcery, 

Awake to reason's life again. 

Man sees himself through those keen rifts 

Which thou dost cleave through passion's veil; 

And, freed from sensual fetters, lifts 

A wing that dares heaven's heights to scale. 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. ji 



The heart thou break'st, lets in the Hght 
Which shows in Christ a heaUng balm ; 

The reed, laid prostrate by thy blight, 
Springs from the dust, — a kingly palm. 

With withered thigh and halting limb, 

Thou smit'st the bold, defiant soul, 
That, chastened, it may lean on him 

Whose grace can make the wounded whole. 
Thou prun'st the vine, that from its bough 

New shoots may spring — new clusters hang; 
Thy power, that rends the bosom now. 

Unfolds new life from every pang. 

Still wield thy sword, O Mighty Power, 

O'er regions now immersed in night ! 
Strike with thy blade, till strikes the hour 

That marks the reign of gospel light ! 
To preached word and printed page, 

Thy potent demonstration lend ! 
Wave o'er the fields where storm-clouds rage, 

And bid them into rainbows blend ! 



J 2 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Still wield thy sword, O Loving Foe, 

Within this wayward soul of mine ! 
Its lawless hordes of lusts lay low, 

And change self-rule to rule of thine ! 
Purge with thy Word's incisive gleam 

Each lep'rous vice which lurks within, 
Till in its light my features beam, 

Spotless as his — " who knew no sin ! " 



FRUIT 



OF 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



(Gal. V, 22, 23.) 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. j^ 



IX. 
LOVE. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 

r^ IVER of life, no sterile root 
Thou plantest in the soul ! 
Thy heavenly germs to bud and fruit 
Mature, through Love's control. 

Oh ! if in me thy plastic power 

Has lodged the vital gift, 
Bid Love to perfect leaf and flower, 

The sacred seedling Hft ! 

Let Love to him who first loved me 
Quicken and warm my heart, 

Till, like his own wide charity, 
In all life Love takes part ! 

Let pride and self-idolatry 

Be quenched within my mind ! 



^6 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



And every thought and purpose be 
To Love's sweet sway consigned ! 

Let life, inspired by Christ-like Love, 
In Christ-like deeds abound, 

A harvest such as saints above 
Gather on heavenly ground ! 

Giver of life, add grace to grace ! 

Let Love to life be given. 
That life on earth the way may trace 

To Love Divine in heaven ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. j/ 



X. 

J Y. 

(Gal. V. 22,) 

XIOT always drooping, like the bruised reed, 
Not always clad in mourner's sable weed, 
Would'st thou, dear Lord, thy pilgrim people lead 

Through this Hfe's wilderness ; 
But oft, with sunlit face and rapturous song, 
With hope exultant, and with courage strong, 
Shouting hosannas, like the angeUc throng. 

Thou bid'st them onward press. 

As the dull mountain in the morning's flush 
Gleams with a golden fringe, and the dead hush 
Of night awakes to life's quick stir and rush, 

So when thy smile, O God, 
Shines on the dreary realm within my breast, 
Lo ! a new world, in Eden glories drest. 
With joyous sunbeam gilding vale and crest. 

Spreads jubilant abroad ! 



j8 Hy7nns to the Holy Spirit. 



My soul transfigured is ! — The doubt, the dread, 
Which secret sin and faithlessness had bred 
Within my heart are gone ! I lift my head 

And bathe in floods of Hght ! 
My gross perceptions, changed to visions clear, 
In blythe excursions range the atmosphere, 
Till heaven's bright domes and gates of pearl 
appear 

Almost like things of sight. 

God's words of grace, in promise and decree, 

Fall on my ear with living potency ; 

And Christ, in loving converse, says to me, 

" Rejoice, for thou art mine ! " 
Oh ! then, there seems through heaven and earth 

to float. 
In tuneful concord, from creation's throat, 
The glad refrain — the universal note, 

"Rejoice, for Christ is thine ! " 

:Spirit of Joy, the Primal Harmony, 
Outbreathing Bliss of the Eternal Three, 



JJymns to the Holy Spirit. JQ 



Behold me groping 'neath night's canopy, 

And morn's sweet light bestow ! 
Oh ! grant, as erst thou dids't to Israel's seer. 
That oft, from hill-tops midst these deserts drear, 
Such Pisgah glimpses may my spirit cheer. 
While wandering here below ! 



^fO Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XI. 
PEACE. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 

^T^HERE is a moaning in my breast, 

A plaint, as of the sea, 
When batthng winds break up its rest 
With their mad revelry. 

On rolling waves each moment rocked, 

I rise — I sink — I seem 
Like one by taunting spectres mocked, 

In some delirious dream. 

My life 's a shifting theatre, 

Where phantoms come and go ; 

My hopes are crossed, my footsteps err. 
My joys presage my woe. 

The good I would I do not do ; 
Discord prevails within ; 



Hymns to the Holy Spb'it. 41 



Illusive things supplant the true, 
And lure me into sin. 

Tossed to and fro in this wild whirl, 

To God my spirit flies ; 
And in his central rest, the pearl 

Of creature-rest descries. 

O Peace of God ! O Heavenly Ark ! 

O Refuge of the weak ! 
Come floating o'er these billows dark, 

And bring the boon I seek ! 

O Holy Ghost ! 'tis thine to bid 
These weary wrestlings cease, 

And, in the Father's bosom hid, 
To give the soul true peace ! 



^f2 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XIL 

long-suffering. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 



'T'O suffer — and to suffer long, 

With patient love, in face of wrong ; 
To strive to bless — and get no heed, 
Oh ! this is bitterness indeed ! 

To offer pearls with generous suit, 
And see them trampled under foot; 
To sow the wheat and reap the tare, 
Oh ! this is burden hard to bear ! 

To feel the sword, and yet invoke 
Mercy on him who deals the stroke ; 
To plead with those who mock our plea. 
Oh ! this is keenest agony ! 

For other's good to pay the price 
Of daily toil and sacrifice, 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 4j 



And yet be met with taunt and curse, 
Oh ! this is pang, than martyr's worse ! 

'Twas thus, O Christ, the crown of thorn 
For us thy brow on earth has worn ; 
And still, though throned in heaven above, 
Thou sufferest long for man's slow love ! 

O Holy Ghost ! in me instill 
The grace of Christ's long-suffering will, 
That selfish greed and carnal pride 
May on his cross be crucified ! 

Each day, from morn to eventide. 

Do thou my march to victory guide, — 

Till the dear Lord, at set of sun, 

Shall o'er my trophies say, "Well done ! " 



44 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XIII. 
GENTLENESS. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 



/^H ! wondrous potency of gentle things! 

Oh ! answer soft, that quenches wrath ! 
Oh ! music, zephyr-born, of airy strings ! 
Oh ! pity's tear ! oh ! love's kind whisperings ! 

A might ye have no warrior hath. 

The gentle snow-flake wraps the buried seed 
With fleecy shield from winter's death ; 

The gentle rain-drop slakes the desert's need ; 

The gentle sunbeam quickens vale and mead 
With flow'ry life and perfumed breath. 

The whirlwind's uproar and the lightning's blaze, 

Confound and blind the inner sense ; 
The " still small voice," with tranquilizing phrase 
Steals to the soul, and gently there conveys 
The words of God's omnipotence. 



Hynuis to the Holy Spirit. ^5 



So Jesus scattered messages of grace 

On hearts with guilt and sorrow sore ; 
Lifting the downcast to his warm embrace, 
By gentle speech re- uttered by his face, 

" I judge thee not ! — Go, sin no more ! " 

So, not with fire from heaven would he consume 
The crowd who drove him from their gates ; 
So, not in wrath but tears, he tells the doom, — • 
Fraught with gaunt famine and the battle's boom, 
Which Judah's capital awaits. 

So, not by force of martial sword and spear 
Would he his kingly crown maintain ; 
But through the truth, — beseeching men to hear, — 
By love's attraction drawing rebels near, — 
He gently seeks the world to gain. 

O Holy Spirit, Soul of Gentleness, 

This Christ-like mind in me enshrine ! 

The bigot's wrath, the zealot's fire, repress ! 

Let my aaibition be — a zeal to bless, 

A passion pure, dear Lord, as thine ! 



46 Hyvuis to the Holy Spirit. 



O 



XIV. 
GOODNESS. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 

H ! in this world of woe, 

With sin's dark trophies strewed. 



How passing sweet it is to know 
That thou, O God, art good ! 

Like heaven's pure air outspread 
O'er deserts parched and bare, 

Thy wide compassions gently shed 
Their solace everywhere. 

Thou mak'st the bright more bright; 

Thou still'st the mourner's sigh ; 
Thou show'st to sorrow's tear-dimmed sight 

Hope's rainbow in the sky. 

*Twas thus the Son of God 
In goodness walked with men ; 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. ^y 



Flowers smiled along the path he trod, 
And Eden bloomed again. 

His wealth was in his loss ; 

His good was good to give ; 
His joy was joy to bear the cross ; 

He died that man might live. 

O Heavenly Dove ! on me 

Christ's holy chrism confer, 
That I may walk thus lovingly. 

His lowly follower ! 



Hy7n7is /o the Holy Spirit. 



XV. 

FAITH. 

(Gal. V. 22.) 

/^H ! mystery of Faith, how Uke creation 

Thy wondrous transformations are ! 
Thou mak'st of empty space the habitation 
Of shining ranks of star on star ! 

Without thy Hght, the soul, with its high vision, 
Formed to traverse the reahiis of God, 

Ignobly stoops from altitudes elysian 
To crawl, the tenant of a clod. 

Oh ! victory of Faith, there are no regions 
Whose w^alls thy prowess has not scaled ! 

From nature's depths to heavenly heights, thy 
legions 
O'er vanquished empires have prevailed ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 4g 



Thou lead'st the trembling soul to Sinai's moun- 
tain, 
Where thunders God's condemning law ! 
Thou guid'st the penitent to Calvary's foun- 
tain, 
And bid'st him life from Jesus draw ! 

Inspired by thee, the sinple wit of mortals 
The assaults of hellish craft defeats ! 

Convoyed by thee, they tread, through death's 
dark portals, 
The way that leads to angels' seats ! 

Girt with thy panoply, with port defiant, 
They face unawed the mightiest foe ; 

The stripling's rustic arms o'ermatch the giant^ 
And lay his haughty boastings low. 

Spirit of God ! whose grace in bloody ages, 
The saints through martyr fires has borne.. 

Whene'er for periled truth the combat rages,. 
Grant me the mantle they have worn ! 
7 



^o Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



My timid heart with hero's fire embolden, 
My sling with might celestial gird ! 

That I, by faith in Israel's God upholden, 
May battle do for Christ's pure Word ! 



Hy77itis to the Holy Spirit. j'Z 



XVI. 
MEEKNESS. 

(Gal. V. 23.) 



'^HE lily, swaying to the breeze, 

Clad in its heaven- wrought draperies. 

And nestling in the sun, 
Smiling on all who pass it by, 
Whether with pleased or careless eye, — 

Outglories Solomon ! 

The lordly mien — the haughty brow, 
The imperious w ill, that scorns to bow 

To voice of Right or Love ; 
The pride that others' worth disdains, 
That recks not others' joys or pains, 

From me, O God, remove ! 

'Tis when, dear Lord, we learn from thee 
The sense of our deformity, 

That grace self-love o'erpowers \ 



^2 Hymns to the Ho.'y Spirit. 



And, joined with thee in faith's embrace, 
We catch the Hkeness of thy face, 
And make thy Meekness ours. 

The living light thou dost infuse, 
Like sunbeam flinging iris-hues 

O'er rugged crag or crumbling tower, 
To nature gives new tint and form, 
Till harshness grows to tempers warm 

In love's so-ft summer shower. 

Oh ! thou Inspirer of Christ's flock, 
Convert to flesh my heart of rock ! 

Purge it of sin's dark taints ! 
Gracious become, through grace bestowed, 
Help me to tread the lowly road 

The Master showed his saints ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. S3 



T 



XVII. 
TEMPERANCE. 

(Gal. V. 23.) 

O use the world without abuse, 
Its joy to taste without excess, 



Its gold to win, its dross refuse, 

Is heaven's strait way to happiness ! 

•0 Holy Ghost, whose wholesome touch 
Vice of its specious mask disarms, 

Xeep me from craving overmuch 
The witchery of pleasure's charms ! 

Repress those strong volcanic fires 
Which rage with baleful heat within ! 

Teach me to curb my wild desires, 
With self-restraint and fear of sin ! 

Help me, by faith, to fetter sense ; 
To shun e'en good that leads to ill ; 



^4 Hy?n7is to the Holy Spirit. 



To quench the lust that breeds offence, 
And chasten passion's prurient will !. 

In the sweet bondage of thy chain 
Let me walk forth, in spirit free. 

From nature's loss extracting gain,. 
From Temperance, Satiety ! 



WORKS 



OF 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



Hyimis to the Holy Spirit. 57 



XVIII. 
PENTECOST. 

(Acts ii. 1-5.) 

T O ! a sound like the wind rushing down 

through the air, 
Smites the ears of a multitude gathered for 

prayer, 
And a radiant shower, like the drifts from a 

cloud 
Which the sunset has kindled, descends on the 

crowd. 

'Tis the day Pentecostal — the day of the Lord ! 

When, with armor celestial, more potent than 
sword, 

He has marshalled his legions, and o'er them un- 
furled 

The imperial sign which should conquer the 

world ! 
8 



^8 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Evermore should that sound, with the sweep of 

the breeze, 
Bear the news of Redemption o'er mountain and 

seas ! 
Evermore, through the earth, in its breadth and 

its length, 
Should its circuit increase and its voice grow in 

strength ! 

Evermore should the flame of that luminous 

sheet, 
With its fiery tongues and its lightning-like heat, 
Through the lapse of the ages, resplendent 

abroad, 
Shed the life-giving sheen of the banner of God ! 

Evermore should the shafts from that quiver of 

light. 
Pierce with meteor splendors the caverns of 

night ; 
Evermore should the Truth, in its jubilant march, 
O'er the dark fields of error spread wider its 

arch ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. ^g 



Evermore ! For the Crucified, raised to his 
throne, 

All dominion and power has claimed for his own ; 

And the oath of the Father has sealed the de- 
cree, 

" To the Son shall all kingdoms and tribes bow 
the knee ! " 

Yet, how slowly, dear Saviour, thy chariot-wheels 

roll ! 
How remote, through the battle's smoke, hovers 

the goal ! 
So entrenched are thy foes, and so fierce is their 

spite, 
That thy people oft falter, and their hands cease 

to fight ! 

Come again, O thou Spirit of wind and of fire ! 

With a thousand-fold baptism Christ's armies in- 
spire ! 

Give the church a new speech, and a heart all 
aflame, 

To exalt 'mongst the nations Emmanuel's name ! 



6o Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Let the saints crowd again to the temple of 

prayer ! 
Let the arm of the Lord once again be made 

bare ! 
And his conquests go on till the welkin's broad 

dome 
Shall resound with the paean, "God's kingdom 

has come ! " 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 6i 



XTX. 

REGENERATION. 

(John iii. 3.) 

A LMIGHTY Spirit, at whose nod 
The obedient dust grew into man, 
Still thou dost guide the wondrous plan, 
That makes of men the "sons of God." 



Not will of flesh, not rite or cult, 

Can weave the sweet mysterious zone 
Which binds the sire and child in one ; 

Life ever is hfe's great result. 



Each creature bears its special mark ; 

A seed divine needs heavenly birth ; 

God's offspring are not born of earth ; 
Stars are not kindled by the dark. 



62 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



The breath which breathed o'er bleached bones 
Lifts from their grave a Hving host, — 
Is thine alone, O Holy Ghost ! 

No mortal craft the secret owns. 

From soil defiled and noisome cave 
The blackened ore thou dost extract, 
And purge with thy creative tact, 

In melting fire or crystal wave. 

So human souls, in death robes swathed, 
Thou bid'st their sepulchres forsake, 
And to a life celestial wake, 

Like Naaman in the Jordan bathed. 

From darkened eyes the scales are torn ; 

Sin's baleful blight quits hand and heart; 

Foul spirits from the breast depart, 
Like ghostly shapes at flush of morn. 

Such rare, such blest nativity, 

Which man not makes, but makes anew, 
Angels with rapt amazement view, 

And joy, Christ's travail thus to see. 



Hy7nns to the Holy Spirit. dj 



My soul its blissful pulses knows, 

And knows them true ; but ah ! so faint 
That oft I breathe the impatient plaint, 

" Send, Lord, not draughts, but overflows ! " 

Wider and wider spread abroad 

Thy quickening power, like flood and flame, 
Till earth, like heaven, through Jesus' name, 

Shall peopled be with " sons of God ! " 



^4 - Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XX. 
SANCTIFICATION. 

(2 Thess. ii. 13.) 

pROM heaven's pure realm, O Holy Dove, 
Thou com'bt to men on silver wing, 
And evermore thy visits bring 

Gleams from the world of light above ! 



As seed lies buried in the sod. 

Or wrapped inert in mummy's shroud, 
Till quickening touch of sun and cloud 

Lifts it to life, a flower of God ; 

So human souls, from earthly mould, 
Breathed on by thee, in beauty rise, 
And catch from the o'erbending skies, 

Their tints of azure, pearl and gold. 



Ilymiis to the Holy Spirit. 6^ 



Thy work is, what thy nature is ! 

Thou art, that thou may'st mortals make 
Pure like thyself, and bid them wake 

From bruitish joys to angels' bliss ! 

Not lore of scribes, — not priestly spell, — 
Not chrism, — nor shrift,— nor sacrament. 
Can rear again the holy tent 

Where God's Shekinah deigns to dwell. 

We cannot scan the wondrous sleight, 
By which the Ethiop's cure is wrought ; 
But sure we are, thy plastic thought 

The visage dark can change to bright. 

Somehow — the way we cannot guess, — 
On hearts which lift to thee their cry,. 
Thou sheddest, as thou passest by, 

Outpourings of thy holiness. 

From forms and rites, to thee, the Soul 
Of life Divine, I turn my quest ! 
I bare to thee my sin-stained breast,, 

And trust in thee to make me whole ! 
9 



66 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



In leper's impotence I sit 

And loathe the chains I strive to rend ; 

Be thou the link twixt means and end, 
And raise me from the miry pit ! 

The bruised reed thou wilt not break ; 

But aid it heavenward to aspire ; 

So, nurse this germ of pure desire, 
And from thy Fount its cravings slake ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. d'j 



XXI. 
ADOPTION. 

(Rom. viii. 15.) 

f^ H ! wondrous word, that tells the tale 
Of birthright lost and gained again ! 
What heights of joy, what depths of pain, 

To memory's view thou dost unveil ! 

The fatal lapse, the direful breach, 
That mark the fallen soul's decline, — 
That dim the star God made to shine, — 

All thought, all measurement o'erreach. 

The eye that mirrored heaven's own blue. 
By sin is bleared with tempers foul, 
Till ahen look, and demon scowl, 

Supplant the angel's native hue. 



68 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



And yet from fall as deep as this, 
O Father, thou dost save thy child ! 
And on the brow, by guilt defiled, 

Dost print the sweet forgiving kiss ! 



And such thy love, that thou would'st have 
The fatling killed, the wine-cup flow, 
'To let the wondering household know, 

" This is a son, — no cowering slave ! " 



It is not the cold, grudging dole. 

The galling yoke, the mandate stern, 
Thou metest out, at his return, 

But home-born cheer and joy of soul. 



Oh ! why, with eyes which cannot see. 
Will blinded scribes, who lead the blind, 
In servile fetters hold entwined 

Those whom the Son of God makes free ? 



Hy7niis to the Holy Spirit. 6g 



Ever, O Holy Ghost, 1 own 

Thy grace, which broke my bondman's thong, 
And taught my lips Faith's filial song, 

''Whom Jesus saves, is God's dear son !" 



yo Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XXII. 
COMMUNION. 

(2 Cor. xiii. 14.) 



''npHE Grace of the Father, the Love of the Son, 
Commingling as streams which in confluence 
run, 
Flow down from their sources in crystalline rills, 
Wafting waters of life from the heavenly hills. 

In sweet benediction, O Spirit divine, 
Thou bearest these gifts, as the chalice of wine 
To fever-parched lips bears the generous fruit 
Conveyed from the vine through its cluster and 
root. 

Thou cheerest my soul with the witnessing power 
Of promise and pledge, as the spring-time's soft 

shower 
Instils its warm life-blood in nature's chilled veins, 
And mantles with verdure bleak winter's domains. 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. yi 



Thou sharest with mortals thy bountiful store, 
As Christ fed the thousands on Galilee's shore ; 
Or stars, in the night-time, from infinite heights, 
Divide with the ocean and lakelet their lights. 

In fellowship tender, as friend holds with friend, 
Thou makest thy strength with our feebleness 

blend ; 
To God thou dost lead us, and openest our ear 
With loving accordance his counsels to hear. 

Thou cleansest our thoughts, till, with lips unde- 
filed, 

Our prayer, without fear, we can lisp as a child; 

Thou broad'nest self-love by thy genial con- 
straints. 

To charities wide as communion with saints. 

Thou makest us feel in the household of God, 
Like children reclaimed from their wanderings 

abroad, — 
At home, where the converse has limitless range, 
And heart answers heart in confiding exchange. 



72 Hy7njis to the Holy Spirit. 



O Blessed Companion, Inspirer, and Guide, 

Like wedlock's pure symbol, — the ring of the 
bride, 

By sweet intertwinings, thy fingers of love 

Embrace me e'en now, like the crowned ones 

above. 

Be near me to chasten these natural ties, 

When earthward would wander my over-fond 

eyes ! 
Be near me, to show me the Seal thou hast given, 
Whene'er I forget my espousal to heaven ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. yj 



XXIII. 
UNITY. 

(Eph. iv. 3.) 



/^ SPIRIT, let thy music weave 

The strifes of earth to harmony ! 
Oh ! lull their discords, as the eve 
Soothes into calm the troubled sea ! 

Thy Oneness is ineffable ! 

For thou art God, and God is One ! 
And the wide thoughts that in thee swell 

Melt ever into unison. 

Thou art not stillness, but a sound 
Which floats far as the zephyrs float ; 

But in thy strains no jar is found. 
For all are tuned to love's key-note. 

Thou canst not be from self diverse. 
There are no rifts in thy sweet chords ; 



14 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



To several souls thou dost rehearse 

One faith, one creed, one chime of words. 

Not thine the fault, O Voice divine ! 

But ours the jaundiced mote and beam, 
Which warp thy word's consistent line, 

And tinge thy rays with variant gleam. 

Oh ! why in human souls, wherein 

The love of Christ has been enshrined, 

Should harsh distempers, born of sin, 
On battle-fields range mind with mind ? 

Oh ! when wilt thou truth's radiant face 
Reveal so clear to our dull sight, 

That in its orb no eye can trace 
A spot, a gap, to mar its light ? 

O Holy Spirit, o'er the eyes 

Of purblind men thy healing pour. 

Till each 'neath other's garb descries 
The lineaments the Master bore ! 



Hym7is to the Holy Spirit. 75 

Impress thy seal of unity 

On all who bear thine inward sign ! 
And show how kindly may agree 

The hostile clans of " Mine" and " Thine " 1 

Till, clasped as waves clasp on the strand, 

And fused, as mists at rise of sun, 
The Church — no more a severed band, — 

At one with thee, shall blend as one ! 



'j6 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XXIV. 
LIBERTY. 

(2 Cor. ii. 17.) 

n~'HOU takest captive, and thou makest free, 

Sweet Messenger of Grace ! 
In truest love thou bind'st the soul to thee, 

And other bonds dost thus displace ! 
Through thy wise sway, thou givest man the key 
That opes the door to perfect Liberty ! 

There is no will to have the will supreme — 

No claim of lordly right to rule — 
In hearts where thou dost dwell! The lawless 
dream 

Of pride is banished from thy school ! 
Thanks for the text, too seldom understood, 
That lust uncurbed is fatal servitude ! 

The evil mind that has its own wild way. 
Unconscious makes the yoke it mocks; 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 77 



In granite grooves its loosest movements play, 

Like rushing streamlet 'midst the rocks. 
Discarding law, man finds himself has grown 
To be the tyrant he would fain dethrone. 

In thy pure channels, O Celestial Guide, 
My wayward passions kindly draw ! 

Control my will, till, like the ocean's tide, 
It bows its strength to Heaven's great law ! 

Thy fetters are my glory and my gain ; 

Beneath thy sceptre, I a monarch reign. 

The soul that strives by its own thrift or pain 
To earn the meed of righteousness, 

Is ever forging for itself a chain, 

Whose links, each hour, more closely press. 

In bondage drear it plies its fruitless toils, — 

Like him on whom the lifted rock recoils. 

O Gentle Spirit, thou hast taught my eye 

To see in Christ the better way ! 
To him, with will subdued, I gladly fly, 

And on his strength my weakness stay ! 



y8 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



I work no more in proud sufficiency, — 

I work from love to him who ransomed me ! 

The worldling, groveling through these clouded 
days 

That span the space 'twixt birth and grave, 
Walks trembling through a spectre-haunted maze, 

Through fear of death, a tortured slave. 
I walk the earth, — whatever may betide. 
In hope immortal, for my Lord has died ! 

Oh ! more and more, help me, thou Holy Ghost, 
To clasp the bands of thy sweet thrall, 

That more and more my joy, my crown, my boast, 
May be, that Jesus is my all in all ! 

In self-extinction, from false masters free. 

Let me behold the Hfe of Liberty ! 



Hyfnns to the Holy Spirit. yg 



XXV. 
THE INVITATION. 

(Rev. xxii. 17.) 

TN a many-tongued speech, O thou Spirit of 

Love, 
'Midst the clamor of life thy calm cadences 

move, 
And with accent as soft as the sea-billow's foam, 
When it touches the strand, whisper ceaselessly, 

Come! 

Like the voice of a mother, they entwine their 

bland lay 
With the child's cradle hymn, and seem gently to 

say, 
" In the days of thy youth, ere the chill frosts 

benumb. 
Oh ! let sucklings and babes to the dear Saviour 

Come ! " 



8o Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



AMth a voice which upbraids me with folly and 

fraud, — 
With a treacherous heart that has wandered from 

God; 
To the leper unclean, to the outcast from home, 
Whose default calls for vengeance — they still 

utter, CuME ! 

With a voice which floats in like a breath of per- 
fume 

To the mourner, revolving in silence and gloom 

The dark tale of his woe, they transmute the sad 
tome, 

To the legend of faith, " Lo ! the Master has 
Come ! " 



With a voice that outvoices the thunders of law, 
When stern conscience condemns me for crime 

and for flaw ; 
When, o'erwhelmed with my guilt, I sit hopeless 

and dumb, 
They invite me to Jesus for pardon to Come ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 8i 

With a voice which rings out Hke a trumpet tone, 

clear, 
When the shadows grow dark and the death vale 

is near, 
To the terror-struck soul they cry, " Fear not the 

tomb ! 
Thy warfare's accomplished,— thy Redemption 

has Come ! " 

With a voice which shall rise 'midst the roar of 

the shock, 
Which the pillars of earth and of heaven shall 

rock. 
They shall echo the Judge, as he counts up the sum 
Of his chosen and faithful, and calls to them, 

"Come!" 

Oh ! thou sweetest of words ! thou Evangel of 

Peace ! 
From the lure of strange voices my spirit release ! 
Let thy call go before me wherever I roam, 
X\Vi the pilgrim at last to his rest shall have 

" Come ! " 



82 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



O 



XXVI. 
THE SPIRIT RESISTED. 

(Acts vii. 51.) 

H ! direst frenzy of the soul ! 



Oh ! darkest record on the scroll 
Of human sin ! Oh ! rage malign, 
'Ihat dares to quench the fire divine 
Of thy fond wooings, Heavenly Guest, 
And drive thee, grieving, from the breast ! 

Shall panting hart refuse the draught 
That to its lips the waters waft ? 
Shall parched field reject the rain 
That comes to give it life again ? 
Shall famished babe with loathing turn 
From the sweet fount of nature's urn ? 

Shall the imbruted prodigal 
Reject the father's yearning call, 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 83 



That bids him from his wanderings come 
Back to the feast of childhood's home ? 
Shall man, with worse than swineherd's lust, 
Spurn heavenly bread, to feed on dust ? 

O God ! I tremble at the thought, 

That I with this dread power am fraught, — 

To lift this creature-will of mine 

In conflict bold with will of thine, — 

And bar the door, and cry, " Depart," 

When Christ stands knockmg at my heart ! 

O God, that those by thee endued 
With this high gift of angelhood. 
Should use their gift, by deed or lips. 
The Giver's glory to eclipse ! 
And, like the slave of demon's spell. 
The evil choose, the good repel ! 

At this I marvel ! But still more, 

God ! I wonder and adore, 
When o'er this scene of mad revolt, 

1 see the stroke of vengeance halt, 



84 Hyinns to the Holy Spirit, 



And hear thee plead with pitying cry, 
" Oh ! sinners, turn ! why will ye die?" 

O Holy Ghost ! O gentleness 

Of Love, which longs its foes to bless, 

Teach these hard hearts, at last, to see 

That Sin is malice aimed at thee ! 

Till the cold ice of unbelief 

Shall melt at sight of thy strange grief ! 

And ever in this soul of mine, 

Let thy soft hand, with touch benign, 

Control each wayward wish and thought, 

Till life in me, with thine inwrought. 

Shall at thy bidding sweetly run, 

As planets course around the sun ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 8^ 



XXVII. 
"PRAYING IN THE HOLY CHOST." 

(Jude 20.) 

/^ THOU who dost thy banquets spread, 

And for thy guests the robe prepare, 
On me, thy suppliant, kindly shed 
The grace of prayer ! 

Thy greatness, Lord, seals up my cry ! 

Thy majesty rebukes my suit! 
In voiceless impotence I lie 
Prone at thy foot ! 

So free thy call — so rich thy store, 

So keen the pangs which drive me near ; 
I still must linger round thy door, 
And crave thy cheer ! 

O Holy Ghost, whose pitying eye 
The starveling's timid baitings views, 



86 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Stretch forth thy hand ! the things supply 
I need to use ! 

For tinseled rag of Pharisee 

Clothe me with sackcloth's lowly grey ! 
While broken heart and bended knee 
My errand say ! 

With empty hand, outstretched to plead, 

Like Lazarus', for mercy's crumb. 
Let me receive — not buy — heaven's bread, 
With tradesman's sum ! 

Let truth within my inward parts 

Each uttered phrase with meaning fill ! 
And spirit stir devotion's arts 
With vital thrill ! 

Give me the faith which in Christ's hands 

My guilt, my fears, my burdens lays ; 
Assured the debt his Law demands, 
His Pity pays ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. Sy 



Give me the child's sweet confidence, 

That makes the parent's mind his own ! 
Whate'er I ask, be this my sense, 
" Thy will be done ! " 

Let prayer to holy converse rise, — 

A union close with God above, — 
An interflow of sympathies 

'Twixt those who love ! 

Oh ! ever thus, till that glad hour 

When I his face unveiled shall see, 
Do thou, O Spirit, grant me power 
To pray in thee ! 



88 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



XXVIII. 
"WALKING IN THE spirit." 

(Gal. V. i6.) 

QHOW me thy way, O Heavenly Guide, — 
The way Christ's sheep have trod of old, 
Lest my weak soul be lured aside 
From his safe fold ! 

The world without, the flesh within, 

Enclose me in their tortuous maze. 
And veil the noisome walks of sin 
With beauty's haze. 

Give me the eye, with vision clear, 

To note 'twixt true and false the line ! 
Grant me the ear that loves to hear 
The voice Divine ! 

Help me, by faith, to stand erect. 

With God's own pattern in accord, — 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 8g 



Conformed, not to man's code or sect. 
But his sure Word ! 

Cleanse thou my motive, — tone my will, — 

Make nature's spring-head pure and good, 
That life may flow, in sea or rill, 
A limpid flood ! 

Not motionless, like passive clay, — 

Moulded and moved by priestly hand ; 
But free, as winds which know no stay 
On sea or land, — 

Would I thy inspiration feel, — 

And walk as thou dost bid me go, — 
As winged notes from harp-strings steal — 
At player's blow. 

Draw me, each hour, with that constraint 
Which Christ upon his loved ones lays ; 
And by that sign, when zeal grows faint. 
My courage raise. 



^O Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Give me the power to find in him, 

My peace — my strength — my righteousness; 
As pulsing Hfe from, vine to Hmb, 
Bears its excess ! 

Teach me to yield my fond desires 

To thy pure sway — that, purged by thee, 
Like incense breathed from altar-fires, 
Their flames may be ! 

Upborne by aspirations high, 

Above the lure of earth's decoys, 
Oh ! lead me on, with steadfast eye, 
To heaven's true joys ! 

But ah ! in vain to that far height, 

My feeble pinion strives to spring ; 
O Holy Dove, aid thou my flight, 
With thy strong wing ! 



Hymns to the Holy Sph'iL gi 



XXIX. 

"LAUS SPIRITU SANCTO." 

^O thee, O Holy Ghost, 
The universal host 
Of saints accord 
Honor and majesty ! 
With voices like the sea, 
They lift their songs to thee, — 
" Praise ye the Lord ! " 

For nothing less art thou 
Than he upon whose brow 

Sits Deity ! 
Within that awful shrine, 
Where dwells the Life divine, 
Through work^ and word, and sign, 

Thy form we see ! 



g2 Hymns to the Holy Spirit. 



Thou wast at nature's birth 
Inspiring soulless earth 

With God's own breath ! 
Thou wast the Witness when 
The Lord came down to men, 
To grant, through grace again, 

Release from death ! 

Through thy transforming leaven 
Thou giv'st the health of heaven 

To sickened hearts ! 
The blind receive their sight ! 
The foul is cleansed to white ! 
The wrong grows into right, 

Through thy blest arts ! 

We magnify thy name ! 
Higher than the acclaim 

Of angels' choir 
O'er Eden's sinless bloom, — 
We hail thy dove-like plume, 
Fanning in hearts of gloom 

Hope's sacred fire ! 



Hymns to the Holy Spirit. gj 

Oh ! come as erst thy wing 
Came brightly hovering 

O'er Jordan's ford ! 
And bless the Gospel s flow, 
Till all this world of woe 
Shall Christ the Saviour know, 

And own him Lord ! 



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